Garfield's Story
by Steve6363
Summary: Taking place three years after the events of 'Rachel's Story'. All the Titans have moved on with their lives. As one powerful Changeling, and one, now powerless Raven meet again. The two, unknowingly bring together the Titans for one more fight.
1. Chapter 1

**Garfield's Story**

 **Chapter 1**

Sal's music store sat close to the center of Jump City mall. It was small, but very popular. They were widely known around the city for the custom work they would do for local musicians.

A lone customer wandered over to the guitar section. All manner of brands and styles lined the wall and floor. All carefully arranged and displayed to catch the eye of any perspective buyer.

The young girl made her way over to the bass guitars. She was small in stature, only about 5' 3" with a slender build. Her ebony hair ran down just past her ears, standing on stark contrast to her pale complexion. She wore mostly dark attire, that further drew attention to her light skin tone. On her feet however, she wore a pair of bright red high top boots.

"It'll be ready in a few minutes Rachel," a woman's voice called out from the behind the service counter.

"Okay, thanks Sarah. I'll be over by the amps when you have it ready," Rachel answered back as she made her way into the small soundproof room towards the back of the store.

Rachel had been coming into Sal's for as long as Sarah could remember. Over the years, they had run into each other at various clubs, shows, and concerts. Sarah was a skilled guitar player and they had even played a number of gigs together. It wasn't long before they had become good friends.

Sarah was also in charge of most of the custom work that Sal's offered. She had become quite good at airbrushing and detailing. She could create works of art out of any musical instrument. It was for that reason Rachel had come to see her.

Sarah admired her own work as she finished restringing the instrument – a Gibson Thunderbird 4 bass guitar. Its usual natural wood finish was replaced by fresh coat of dark metallic green paint. She gently picked up the heavy guitar, careful not to damage the new paint job. A few moments later, she made her way over to the sound studio at the back of the store to present her work.

Rachel had knelt down in front of one of the bass amps and plugged in one of the cheap, low-end bass guitars, and was now playing a few notes. She appeared to be alternating between high and low pitched notes, trying to judge the quality of the amplifier.

"Thinking of taking a step back in performance?" Sarah asked teasingly.

"What?" Rachel asked, not looking at her as she adjusted the tone on the amplifier and continued playing the same set of high and low notes.

"Well, I'm not saying that Ibanez doesn't make quality guitars, they do," Sarah continued. "But that isn't one of them."

"Oh," Rachel mumbled as she continued adjusting the sound of the amplifier. "I was just trying...to see...if," she slowly trailed off as she again played the same notes. It was as if she had forgotten why she had come in that day.

"Well Miss Lock, if you are interested, I have this lovely Gibson Thunderbird bass. Complete with a brand new paint job."

Rachel stopped playing and quickly turned her attention to Sarah and the instrument she held in her hands. Rachel quickly stood up and as she haphazardly leant the bass she was playing against the amp. It promptly slid off and fell to the floor with a loud crash that reverberated through the amplifier.

"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed in protest as she watched the Ibanez clatter to the floor. "I still have to sell that!"

Rachel muttered a half-hearted "sorry" as she quickly took the instrument from Sarah.

"Well, is it to your liking?" Sarah asked as she picked the discarded Ibanez that was laying face down on the floor and inspected it.

"Oh Sarah, it looks beautiful!" Rachel exclaimed as she looked over her newly detailed bass.

"I'm glad you're pleased with it." Sarah sighed as she placed the bass back on its display stand. She unplugged the cable and handed it to her friend.

"And the engraving?" Rachel asked as she plugged the cable into the Gibson.

"On the back of the neck."

She quickly flipped the bass over in her hands. There, she found the quote etched in black ink. _**"Every master was once an apprentice. Every beast was once a cub."**_ Rachel squealed happily. "It's perfect!"

"Perfect? Well, thank you. So, you never told me, why?"

"Why what?" Rachel asked as she began plucking the strings.

"Why you had me detail it? That one specifically?" Sarah picked up one of the guitars that were strewn around the room. There were plenty for her to choose from. People would come in, and try them out, and simply leave them scattered about, without returning them to the sales floor.

"Umm...that is one of the services you offer isn't it?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but that's not what I was talking about," Sarah said, as she took a seat on the stool next to her with one of the guitars in her hands. "Of all the basses you own, of which there are many."

"Seven," Rachel clarified.

"Okay, sure, seven. Of those seven, you took your, by far, most valuable one, had me sand it down, repaint it, and put a custom engraving on it, all so you could give it away?"

"Not give it away. Give it as a gift," Rachel stated.

"A gift to who?"

"Garfield," Rachel smiled.

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah. He's taking his first lesson in a few days." Her smile grew wider. "I'm more excited about it than he is, I think." Rachel began playing the opening notes to the Tool song 'Schism'.

"I can tell." Sarah laughed. "I swear, it happens every week. At least two or three times."

"What does?" Rachel asked as she continued to play.

"Someone picks up a bass and plays Schism. Or tries to anyways."

"Well, what do you expect? It's the 'Purple Rain' of the bass guitar," Rachel said jokingly.

Sarah joined in and began playing along with her friend. They continued to play several more songs as they discussed different bands and styles. It was a topic the two friends had talked about plenty of times before. They never could settle on a decision as to who their favorite band was. Sure, they each had their favorite musician, but they never could settle on who was the best band.

After a while, the topic moved back to Garfield. "So he's going to learn how to play, huh?" Sarah asked.

"Yup, it's going to be amazing!"

"So you're giving him your Thunderbird as a gift? So he has something to practice on?"

"Yup. I told him I would let him borrow one of my old ones to practice on. I always told him that he was never allowed to touch this one under any circumstances,"Rachel said as she patted the Gibson. "This is going to be a big surprise for him." Rachel beamed.

"Well, yeah, but he'll still be a beginner," Sarah remarked. "You're going to give him a high-quality instrument, but he won't be a high-quality player. At least not right away," Sarah reasoned. "It would be like giving a Bentley to a sixteen-year-old that just got his driver's license."

"I know, but I can't help myself."

"Well – hang on. I'll be right back." Sarah got up and walked over to open the door. She walked out to greet a couple that had come in. A few minutes later she returned and sat back down and picked up her guitar.

"You need to help them?" Rachel asked.

"No. They're just looking, they said."

"So where were we? Slayer, Rush, Metallica? Maybe a little Primus?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"No. No Primus. How about some Rush?" Sarah started playing the opening rift to 'Fly By Night'.

"No. I probably should head out."

"What? Upset I didn't want to play Primus?" asked Sarah.

"No. I told Gar I would meet him in the food court soon." Rachel began to get up and walk to the door.

"You going to give him his gift in the food court?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"No. I'll put this out in my car first. No, he's going to meet one of his old friends there at one o'clock. I told him I had something I had to take care of here. So he asked, well, more like begged, me to come up and meet him."

Sarah started gathering up the guitars and moving them back out to the sales floor. "Who is this friend? And why does he want you to meet him so badly?"

"It's some guy he used to hang with back in the day. Before I met him." Rachel began to look around the room. "Where did I put my case?"

"I moved it over by the door." Sarah pointed to the large case leaning on the wall next to the door. "So someone he used to hang out with before he met you? Haven't you two been together for, like, three years?"

"Almost, yeah." Rachel gently placed the Gibson into the case. "I really do hope he likes it."

"I'm sure he will. So, how did you meet him? I know you told me you met him at that diner downtown you used to work at. But what was it like? From the few times I've met Gar, I can only imagine what he is like when he is trying to flirt."

Rachel laughed slightly. "Well you know me, I didn't give him much of a choice in the matter. I used to flirt a lot back then."

"Yeah, you did use to pour it on a little thick at times – a lot of the times." Sarah chuckled.

"I wasn't that bad," Rachel protested sheepishly.

"Yeah, you kinda were."

Rachel shot her friend a glare as they both made their way to the cash register. "Anyway, there was this real bad storm this one night. A lot of rain and hail. This skinny, shaggy-looking guy came in to get away from the storm. He was kinda cute, so I went over to get his order. He was friendly, but a little quiet at first."

"Now I know you're lying. Garfield is never quiet from what I can tell." Sarah made her way behind the counter to gather up an assortment of papers with billing information on them.

"He was that night," Rachel said as she handed over her credit card. "He really seemed like his mind was somewhere else. I didn't really notice it back then, but now that I've gotten to know him, looking back, it was really unlike him. He seemed a little sad for some reason."

"Again, that doesn't really seem like the Garfield I've met." Sarah tried to run the credit card repeatedly. "This damn thing never works."

"He struck me as kind of odd at first, but in kind of a cute way. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Sarah said, still fighting with the card reader. "Odd how?"

"Well, just little things. But a bunch of little things. Like how he was in town to get things from his old place that was about to be torn down. He just left some of his stuff there 'cause he didn't know that he was leaving for good? Or how he didn't want a ride when I offered. It was raining outside! Or how he was wearing this big, tacky ring."

"Eww. A man-ring. Very odd indeed."

"Well, yes, that." Rachel laughed. "But that wasn't the odd part. When I asked him about it, he said it was given to by one of his friends. One of his guy friends. And ya know? To this day I don't think I've ever seen him take it off."

Sarah stopped and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Who was this friend?"

"Guy named Victor. Same guy he is meeting here in," Rachel looked down at her phone, "in five minutes! Okay, we kinda need to wrap this up. I've got to run out to my car to put this up first." She nodded the guitar case sitting on the floor.

"Well, if I could ever get this thing damn thing to go through!" Sarah said in frustration as she started to slap the credit card reader.

"Stop, give me that." Rachel took her card back. "Hand me some receipt paper."

"Why?" Sarah asked, handing her the paper.

"Trick I learned working at that diner." Rachel wrapped the receipt paper tightly around the card. "Here, now try it." She handed it back to her friend.

Sure enough, the card ran on the first swipe. "Well, how about that? Learn something new every day." Sarah finished up the transaction and handed her card back.

"Thank you so much again, Sarah. I owe you big time." Rachel started to make her way out the door.

"Hey, that friend of his, Victor?"

"Yeah?" she called back as she headed out the door.

"Is he hot?"

"Don't know. I told you, I've never met him before."

"Well, if he is, bring him by. I want to meet him."

"Okay, I'll see. Bye," Rachel gave a half-hearted wave as she made her way out into the mall.

* * *

"This is Black. Do you read me?" The voice on the other end of the line was cold and precise.

"Yes. We're in place." She responded as she looked over their equipment.

"Good. I'm almost ready on my end. Be ready when I give the word."

"Yes Mr, Black."

"If we don't do it today it may be a while be fore we get another chance." He typed a final set of commands into his laptop.

"Understood. It begins today." She motioned for one of her comrades to start the bus.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The tea that they served wasn't the best Raven had ever tasted but she had grown to like it. She had viewed it as something akin to someone having their favorite fast food place. It's not the best ever, clearly, but it is the best you could get cheap.

Once she had placed the order she sat down at one of the tables in the food court. She hated coming to the mall. Too loud, too many people, too hard to get from one store to another. But, on rare occasions, she had to come here. The tea she could get in the mall was the only small positive about her outing today.

She had needed to get some formal clothes. She didn't really have anything that would be presentable in court. After going to several stores and hours of looking she finally just settled on a long skirt and matching blouse that seem like it would work. She had become too frustrated already just at the idea of having to go through all this. Having to shop for this long gave her a headache.

"Here you go Miss, Roth." A barista placed a cup of tea down on the table in front of her.

"Thank you," Raven remarked.

She looked at the mob of people moving about the food court. The crowd was loud and obnoxious, yet another reason she hated coming here. Most carried some form of bag or sack that they got from various shops. Some would sit down at one of the tables and just drop the bags onto the floor next to them. Other shoppers would walk by and occasionally step on or trip over the abundance of bags that littered the ground.

She noticed there were a lot of groups of teenagers. Large numbers of them would gather around one table. Eating and discussing things that they had purchased. She saw one particularly large group of high school aged teens gathered around one table. At the center was what appeared to be a number of cheerleaders. And then a ring of teenage boys huddled around them.

Kids were moving about, yelling and screaming. Running in between tables and crowds of people. While parents unsuccessfully attempted to control them.

Another group of middle-aged men gathered around yet another table, arguing rather heatedly over what she could reasonably assume to be some sort of political disagreement.

"How quickly people forget," she muttered to herself as she took her first sip.

For nearly eight years she and her friends were the guardians of this city. For nearly eight years she and her friends were the only line of defense against countless super villains, natural disasters, and demonic invasions. For nearly eight years they were responsible for the safety of every man, woman, and child in Jump City. For nearly eight years they were the Teen Titans. How quickly people forget.

They had gone their separate ways over the last few years. The city, _their city_ , no longer needed them. That was good, right? That meant they had done their job, protected the city, right? Then why did it feel empty?

She was the only Titan left in the city. And she wasn't much of one anymore. Her powers had grown extremely weak over the last couple of years. Her empathic abilities were all but gone. She could barely feel anyone now. She could no longer sense anyone like she used to. Her telekinetic abilities were weakening as well. She was once able to move massive amounts of stone and steel; now she struggled to levitate a book from one side of a room to the other.

She should be happy about this, she told herself repeatedly. This is what she wanted. All her powers came from her father. The demon lord Trigon. If her powers were being weakened that must mean her connection with him was weakened as well. Which was good. So why did she feel so scared?

When she left the Titans she assumed that at least someone would remain. Robin, her leader, surely he wouldn't allow the city to go undefended. But no, he followed in the foot steps of his mentor. He took the name Nightwing and moved to Bludheaven, apparently in pursuit of someone named Blockbuster.

Then there was her friend, Starfire. After she left the Titans she teamed up with Red Hood and Arsenal for a while. But she had apparently left Earth to return to Tamaran.

Cyborg probably had received the highest honor out of all the Titans. He was made an official member of the Justice League, serving alongside the likes of Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman.

And finally, there was him, Beast Boy. Surely _he,_ out of all of them, would have stayed? He had tried so hard to convince her to stay beside him years ago. Looking back, perhaps she did act selfishly. Only caring about her future, not his. But in the end it didn't matter. He too was gone. Moved to Texas somewhere. She wasn't sure what happened to him after that.

She lost touch with a lot of her former teammates and friends. She was all too caught up in what would later become a failed marriage. And now she was alone. A powerless superhero. In a city that no longer needed her, that no longer remembered her. 'How quickly people forget.'

She got up when she finished her tea. As she made her way to the trash can she saw something that caught her attention.

Two young men sat at a table in the food court. Buried among the crowd of people. The two sat talking, like many of people around them. They smiled and laughed as they talked. It reminded her of how her and her friends used to be. She could easily imagine Victor and Garfield sitting at that same table, laughing and joking just as they always did. Not worrying about the life outside the conversation, just enjoying the company of close friends. She missed that about her old life most of all. The company of her friends, the company of her family.

But it wasn't just the look of the two men setting and laughing, the faces reminded her of them too. One had the shaggy hair and that same smile that he used to have, minus the green skin. Even the way he used his hands as he talked, very expressive in his gestures. And his clothes were that different from what she would expect Garfield to wear. Every thing from the old worn out boots to the baggy jeans and that same old wrinkled t-shirt-

"Waite a minute!" She exclaimed rather abruptly. The elderly couple at one of the nearby tables turned to look at her. She simply offered a small smile in response.

She quickly inspected the man sitting across from more closely. Tall, muscular, and dark complected. He was wearing an unassuming long sleeve t-shirt and a par of khaki jeans. She hadn't seen too many pictures of Victor before his accident at S.T.A.R. Labs but enough to see the similarity. There were no mechanic augmentations that she could see, but it WAS him. Cyborg.

They had their holo-rings. That had to be it. The holo-rings were devices that Cyborg designed. They was a tiny holographic generators set inside rings. They would camouflage the wearer so that they would appear as a normal citizen. They all had them. Well, everyone except Robin.

Even though they were in disguise she would recognize them anywhere. Even without her empathic powers. She had known both of them too long not to notice who they were instantly.

She quickly sat back down in one of the empty chairs. Hunching down as best she could, as if that would somehow make her less noticeable if they looked her way. She wasn't sure why, but she felt the sudden need to hide herself. Was it shame or fear? Perhaps she didn't know what to say if they saw her.

She watched them for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Should she go over and say hi? Just see what happens then. Or should she just ignore them and go on about her day? She went over the options over and over again in her head for what seemed like forever.

"This is stupid. You are being stupid. They are your friends," she chastised herself.

She got up with a new found resolve. She began to walk over to the two at the table when she saw something else that made her freeze.

A young, attractive girl came up gave Beast Boy a warm embrace as she planted a kiss on his lips. 'Who is this girl?' His usually happy and bright disposition seemed to double at the sight of this girl. She clearly was very important to her old friend. A huge smile, one that Raven had never seen before, spread across Beast Boy's face.

'Who is this girl?'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Garfield was excited as he quickly walked to the food court. More than excited, he was ecstatic at the thought of getting to hang out with his best friend. He hadn't seen Victor in a long time. They needed to catch up on everything that had been happening in their lives.

As he walked to the large open area in the middle of the mall, he was met with a throng of people. They had agreed to meet at lunch. It was clear now that probably wasn't the best idea. It would take a while to find each other in the crowd. But it couldn't be helped, it was the only time Victor had free.

After a little bit of searching, he saw someone who looked familiar.

The person had that same look and swagger he always did. That same, slightly self-assured, grin spread across his face. Cyborg. He wore a pair of khaki jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt with a large S.T.A.R. Labs logo on the front.

"Hello, Mr. Stone," Garfield said as he walked up.

"Hello, Mr. Logan." Victor returned his smile as he sat down.

"How you been Cy?" Garfield took a seat at the table.

"Good BB. Been busy though."

The two exchanged greeting as any friends would. There was no need to talk about the exact nature of their past history together. In their time as Teen Titans, they had learned how to act as a normal citizens. They all had trained themselves what to say and not to say in public. It was something that was taught to Robin by Batman. Robin passed the knowledge on to them. But the noise and commotion of the crowd around them, the two former Titans couldn't have been given another glance by the passing crowd, and so they dropped the subterfuge.

"So, how has work been?" Garfield asked his former teammate.

"Umm—interesting, to say the least. I imagine you heard about it on the news."

"Well, any time I see any news that involves you, or any of the old team for that matter, I take notice. But usually all that's said, if anything, is 'Justice League saves city'. Or 'Justice League saves world'. And it's rare that you get mentioned specifically."

"Ain't that the damn truth." Victor chuckled. "It's either Superman or Batman. Or Wonder Woman and The Flash."

"Sorry about that, Cy." Garfield tried to think of something more to say to cheer up his friend. He appended his mouth to say something more but shut it once he realized he didn't know what to say.

"I'm not worried about it," Cyborg said, noticing his friend's reaction. "It seems like most days, I'm doing my absolute best not to let them down. Being a member of the League is stressful. I don't need any added headaches like fame."

"Well, I did hear about that 'Techno-sapien invasion'." A sly grin spread across Garfield's lips. "A bunch of super robots from another planet. It didn't seem like you were too shy from the camera then, Mister 'Savior of Humanity'."

"That wasn't my choice. The rest of the League was off-planet at the time. And they weren't 'Super Robots', they were technological parasites that attached themselves to organic bening. And they weren't from another planet, they were from another Earth. It was a multiverse thing."

But you didn't need the rest of the League. It was 'The Cyborg that saved all of us' after all."

"That's not what they told me afterward," Victor said contemptuously.

"What do you mean?" Garfield asked.

"They wanted me to register my nano-tech and turn myself in to them." Victor reached up and taped the left side of his head with his finger. "This nano-tech. The tech that is integrated into my body," Victor said with an exasperated sigh.

"What? Why?" Garfield cocked his head to the side and wore a confused look on his face.

"Well, seeing as how I am more machine than man, and I work for S.T.A.R. Labs, and certain divisions of S.T.A.R. Labs report to the U.S. government, I therefore am property of the U.S. government."

"That's stupid," Garfield huffed out.

"Tell me about it. Oh, I haven't told you the best part yet!" Victor said as he leant forward. "You know our holo-rings?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

Victor placed both his hands on the table in front of his friend. "Where's mine?"

There was nothing on any of his fingers. Nothing on either hand. "How are you doing that?" Garfield asked.

"Something happened to me when I fought the Techno-sapiens." His voice was little more than a whisper now. "My tech evolved somehow. The nano-tech in my body can now generate holographic imagery."

"Amazing-" was all that he could utter out. Garfield mind started racing with the possibility's this opened up for his friend.

"As far as I can tell, there is no limit to how long I can stay like this. I mean, underneath I am still," he looked around subtly. "I'm still Cyborg," he said quietly. "Red cybernetic eye, sonic cannons, metal alloy body. I am me, it's just now I can look normal. All the time if I wanted to."

"So why don't you?" Garfield asked, still trying to understand what his friend just told him.

"Why don't I what? Stay looking like this? How would I do that when I have to help out the Justice League? Just be a normal looking man, shooting blue sonic beams out of his arms?"

"No. Well yes. I mean—you have the chance to, at least _look_ like a normal human being. Without having to rely on some dumb ring to make you appear normal." Garfield reasoned as he looked down at his holo-ring on his finger.

"'Dumb ring'? Hey, I put a lot of work into those."

"You know what I mean. You could be the real you again. The you before your accident that destroyed your body. You could be free of this kind of life." Garfield's voice was full of hope and eagerness.

Victor look surprised and a little confused. "Is that what you think I want? To not be me? Think about it, what if you woke up one day and had red skin instead of green? You would look different but you would still be you. BB—I honestly never thought I would hear something like this from you of all people."

"But, you said you can stay looking like this as long as you want, right? Your nanos, they will stay like this forever if you let them, right? You could return to your life before." The idea of a normal life seemed like it would be a dream come true for his cybernetic friend.

"And what life was that?" Victor's voice cut right into Garfield. He could see his friend was taking this very seriously.

"You told me about your football playing days. You were good. Really good you said."

"And?"

"Well, you are incredibly good with computers and very intelligent. You could have got a scholarship to a good university. You could have had a great young adult life." Garfield couldn't understand why his friend was so calm about this. This was something that they had talked about in the past. Neither of them had the opportunity of a 'normal kid'.

"So I could have spent my life playing football? Well, football is fun and all, but it's not my life." Victor said casually as he looked around the busy food court, apparently unaware or uninterested in what he was suggesting.

"But you could have been drafted by the NFL or something. You could have been a multimillionaire. You could have been the next Bruce Wayne or Oliver Queen."

"No. And they're billionaires by the way. And they didn't make their money playing sports. No, if that had happened I wouldn't have been able to do all the amazing things that I have come to love."

"I don't understand," Garfield said finally.

"Well, let's see, I can now claim to be both a Justice League member and a Teen Titan. I can claim to be a superhero," he said with a hint of pride in his voice. "Beast Boy," he said quietly, "if I hadn't have been in my dad's lab that afternoon. If I hadn't have been in that explosion. If my dad, in desperation, hadn't have used the alien cybernetics to save my life all those years ago." Victor seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

"If none of that had ever happened, if I never became Cyborg, I never would have traveled into space. I never would have traveled to Atlantis. I never would have met an alien princess or a girl who has an inter-dimensional demon for a father. I never would have met a disciple of the Batman himself. And I never would have met my best friend."

Garfield began to understand why Cyborg wasn't more concerned with his new found ability. It didn't change who he was. Victor knew who he was and what that meant. He was at peace with his life. Beast Boy figured that was why he was always so self-confident and happy.

A gentle smile spread across his lips. "I miss the good old days too."

"Me almost dying in that explosion all those years ago is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Don't feel sorry for me."

"I'm happy for you, Cy. I have some kind of cool news for you too." he said as he saw a young girl walking up behind Victor.

"Whats that?" he asked.

"Well it's not as big as yours but-" Garfield gave a quick wave to the girl.

Victor turned to look over his shoulder. Not seeing who exactly who he was waving at he turned back to his friend. "What?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Well I told you about that really cute girl I've been seeing?"

"Yeah? You haven't told me much about her but yeah."

"Well when you told me you were going to be in town I couldn't wait to introduce y'all."

"Umm—'y'all'?"

"Oh, sorry. Habit I picked when I was living in Texas. Any ways I asked her to come up here and meet you."

Rachel walked up and gave Garfield a hug and he introduced her. "Cy, this is my girlfriend Rachel."

A/N: Sorry about the delay on this chapter. I will try not to take too long on the updates in the future. I need to thank my two beta readers RavenBloom and of course Gweneveire. They are a huge help to me. I don't Teen Titans and all that stuff...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was an odd feeling that Garfield had. He had really wanted the two of them to meet before. But now he was unsure if it was a good idea. Both Cyborg and Rachel knew things about him that he didn't want the other one knowing.

She had introduced herself as she always had, very cheerful and happy. He had never known her not to enjoy meeting people. She had that kind of personality. Someone that people just gravitated to. He wasn't sure how she did it.

"Hi. I'm Rachel Lock. I'm Garfield's girlfriend." She smiled as she shook his hand.

"Victor Stone," he said happily as he returned the handshake.

"So, the famous Victor Stone. Garfield talks about you a lot." She took a seat the table next to Garfield.

"Does he?" Victor raised an eyebrow at his friend. "What has he told you?"

"Nothing bad." She giggled. "Just told me about how you and your friends used to hangout. Before you all moved away from Jump City."

"Yeah. Good times. But, sadly, he hasn't said much about you. I didn't even know your name 'till just now."

"Really?" She mimicked Victor's raised eyebrow. "Good to know how important I am to him," she said teasingly.

"Well," Garfield said nervously. "I'm thirsty. Are y'all thirsty? I'll go get us drinks." He quickly got up and made his way over to one of the counters.

"You are just going to leave right after you introduced us?" Rachel called out, still trying to get a rise out of him as he walked over to the counters.

"Typical," Victor said with a chuckle.

He had thought this through. He knew Rachel's personality would probably take over the conversation as soon as they started talking. Or at least it did with most people they had met. But Cyborg was different than most. He was very outgoing and friendly as well. He would more than likely keep up with her. By the time he got back to the table they would probably be old friends.

 _'Is that really a good thing though?'_ he thought to himself. Rachel knew a lot about the 'New Garfield', but not anything really about his life before. His life as a Titan. But that wasn't really the problem. Cyborg certainly would let anything slip about that. He did know that he hadn't told her about the whole superhero thing. But he also knew all the embarrassing stuff about him. It wouldn't be hard for him to rework those stories a little and still get the get the same effect.

After a few moments the young girl at the pizza place came back to the counter with his drinks. "Thank you, have a nice day," she said as he picked up the drinks.

He fumbled with the cups in his hands, trying to find a way to carry them while navigating the crowd. Several times as he made his way past people they almost bumped into him. Finally he made it back to their table. Garfield couldn't help but be a little worried about what Cyborg had said to her.

"I'm over-thinking it," he muttered to himself. He sat the drinks down as he got back to the table.

"Hey, babe," Rachel said as she took a sip from her drink. "We have been comparing notes."

 _'Damn.'  
_

* * *

Raven suddenly realized she had been staring for quite a while. She subtly looked around her to see if any one had taken notice of how intently she was looking across the food court. It would be pretty obvious that she was she was looking at someone specific.

She decided it was probably best if she made her way out of the mall now. She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at what she was doing. She was hiding and spying on two people who, at one point, she considered to be two of her closest friends. And now, she was trying to hurry up and leave before she was spotted. That definitely wasn't any better.

She hastily gathered up her shopping bags. As she got up as discreetly as she could she couldn't help but think that only if she had her powers she could have spied on them a lot easier. Just use her telepathy to 'hear' what they were saying before they said it. She wouldn't have to hide in a mall and try to read lips and make assumptions on what was being said. The fact that the mall was as busy as it was made that task much more difficult than it already would have been. Having so many people walking by in-between her and the people she was watching made it hard to focus on them.

 _'Well now I am admitting to myself that I was spying on them. Good job Rae.'_

She moved as quickly as she could through the crowd. She hated doing this, dealing with large groups of people in a public place. It was different when she was a Titan. It was less stressful and annoying when she was a hero. Working crowd control or acting as the team spokesperson on rare occasions was one thing. But having to be a normal civilian, having to be just another face in the crowd was hard.

Of course if she did have her powers back she could just teleport out of the mall. That would eliminate most of the problems of the day.

That girl, she kissed him. Barely even a hello, just walked up and kissed him. It seemed to make him so happy to see this girl. Raven knew what that meant. Clearly she was Gar's girlfriend.

 _'New girlfriend, maybe.'_ she thought to herself. _'Was she new?'_

It had been so long since she talked to him. It was back before her wedding. That was so long ago now it seemed. Maybe they had been together for a while. Maybe they got together right after she and Gar had broken up? No. That couldn't be. He was with Terra for a while. So after her then? That could be nearly three years.

 _'I wonder if she is good to him?'_

Gar hadn't always had the best of luck with women. Robin had told her what had happened with Terra. She had heard about how they had tried to make it work after the Titans disbanded. She was never any good for him. She could only cause problems.

Her train of thought was broken by a sudden uneasy feeling. It seemed to shoot up through her spine and into her head. It was as if someone had rammed an overwhelming sense of dread and foreboding into her mind, violently, forcefully. The shock of the experience left her confused and disoriented. It took her a few moments to realize what had happened. She just had a premonition. She had had them before but they were almost always related to her father. And they never led to anything good.

She calmed herself and tried to assess what she just felt. The premonitions she had in the past were never clear or obvious. Raven had never really considered having visions of the future a power. She never had any control over them. She had always just thought of them as a, side-effect for lack of a better word, of her link to her father. She never plainly saw what was going to happen. It always came as a jumbled mess. Brief glimpses of people and images. But she saw very clearly this time.

It was what appeared to be the mall she was now in. There was a large number of bodies lying on the ground, motionless, lifeless. A large crumpled husk of what appeared to be a city bus lay on its side. Underneath the crushed vehicle were two familiar shapes. One was a shinny metal shape of a man. The other, a bloody green heap of flesh, dressed in a black and purple outfit.

* * *

"So, bass guitar huh? Never figured you for the 'rock band' type BB," Victor said as he finished off his drink.

"I think he will do great," Rachel said, more in an effort to reassure Garfield than anything else.

"I'm wiling to give it a try," Garfield said with a smile. "I am a little nervous though."

"I have never known you to be nervous about something like this BB. You are usually the first to want to try something new."

"Yeah but this is different. Rachel is an expert at this and I'm going to be the beginner. I'm afraid I'll look dumb and lose some of my cool points," Garfield said as reclined back in the metal chair, putting on his best goofy grin he could manage.

"Cool points?" they both asked in unison.

"Yeah. You know, the thing that gives me my lovable charm. There is a large amount of grace and dignity that comes with being a cool, funny guy like me." Garfield interlocked his hands behind his head as he leaned further back in his chair, balancing it so that he wouldn't fall. "Yup it takes a special kind of balance to be cool, funny, and charm-" His chair promptly slid out from under him as both he and the chair came crashing to the ground with a loud clatter.

Rachel and Victor both broke out in uncontrollable laughter. Garfield scrambled to his feet as he picked up his chair and quickly returned it upright as he sat down hoping no one else noticed. He tried to fight the embarrassed look on his face as he shrunk down in his chair.

"Yes, so charming babe," Rachel squeaked out through her laughter.

"I can totally see someone as coordinated as BB playing an instrument."

"Oh yeah," Rachel's face lit up. "I was going to ask you Victor, where did the nickname 'BB' come from?"

The two former titans exchanged a quick look. As careful as they were neither one of them had anticipated that question.

"It's just something all my friends called me in high school," Garfield rushed to explain.

"Yeah we all called him that," Victor added.

"Well yeah I know that. Garfield told me about that. But, like, what does it stand for? They are initials for something, right?"

"It doesn't stand for anything. Just a name they called me, Garfield said with a nervous chuckle that both Victor and Rachel had come to recognize.

"You're hiding something," she said as she narrowed her gaze at him.

"No, really, just a stupid name. Guys use to call me 'Victory Stone' back then."

"Well yeah but that's because you were a football star back in high school. You told me yourself." Rachel furrowed her brow as she looked at the two of them. "You're both hiding something."

"Look Rachel, it was a different time back then. We were different people. It really isn't important anymore," Garfield stopped when he noticed the look spreading across his girlfriend's face. It was one of sudden horror.

"Oh my god you two were gay in high school!"

"What?!" the two boys exclaimed.

"I knew it! He gave you a ring, he knows you so well, and I bet 'BB' stands for like 'Butt Buddy' or something stupid like that!"

Garfield took a second to let what she said sink in. Victor did his best to hold back his laughter.

"No. we're not gay," Garfield said calmly.

"Oh come on 'BB' there is no point in hiding it now. Gar and I shared a love that burned brighter than the sun." Victor put his arm around his friend amorously.

"Stop that!" Garfield said as he tried to keep from laughing himself. "We are not gay. We were never in love."

"Wow 'BB'. After all we went through? It hurts me to hear you say that."

The look of shock slowly faded from Rachel's face. She began to realize how absurd that must have sounded. She knew better than that. She was more than a little embarrassed that she had just blurted that out.

"I—I'm sorry. I, um—sorry." She could feel her cheeks turning red.

"No I'm sorry, I couldn't resist having a little fun at Gar's expense," Victor said still trying to hold back his laughter.

"Funny," Garfield gave his friend an irritated look. "Make no mistake babe, I would gladly die for this man. But it's not out of a _romantic_ love."

Hearing this didn't do anything to help her feeling of embarrassment. "Well I still feel kind of bad. I wasn't trying to say that there is anything wrong with that kind of lifestyle but I just – my boyfriend, if he were to tell me—um, I'm going to be quiet now," Rachel said sheepishly.

"It's okay really," Victor said.

Her eyes widened once again in horror as she pointed over their shoulders. "Oh my god!" she screamed in terror as she jumped from her seat.

There was a deafening crash behind them. The two former Titans quickly turned to see the city bus that had just rammed through the doorway to the food court. It was barreling directly towards them


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rachel gasped for air as the smoke filled her lungs. She opened her eyes and instantly regretted it. They started burning from the dust and smoke that saturated the air around her. Her mind was still racing with fear and panic with what she had just witnessed. The last thing she saw was something large crashing into the mall and headed directly at them.

She was lying face down on cold tile floor of the food court. She put her hands under her as she tried to push herself up. She then noticed the weight on top of her, pining her down. She quickly jerked her head from side to side, attempting to see what was holding her down. Desperation and panic took hold as she began to violently struggle and thrust against the weight.

"Help! Help me!" she screamed out hysterically.

"It's okay. I'm right here." His voice was almost a whisper in her ear. "Vic's got it. You're okay."

Garfield lifted himself up just a little so she could roll on her side enough to turn and look at him. At the last second he must have grabbed her to shield her. He had saved her life? Where was the bus?

"The bus?" she squeaked out, still fighting through the fear. "Are you hurt?"

"No. I told you, Vic's got it." He directed her attention behind him. "You doing okay back there, Cy?"

"Yeah, almost got," Victor grunted out.

She followed his gaze back to see a silhouette of a man facing away from them—holding up a city transit bus a few feet above their heads. Slowly, her eyes came into focus. It _was_ indeed Victor Stone, but far different from the person that was sitting across the table from her a few minutes ago.

His skin was no longer its dark brown hue, now it was far more metallic in appearance. He was covered in shiny black and chrome—armor? Along his arms and back, thin, circuit board patterned lines of bright blue lights glowed and pulsed. The entire upper left portion of his head too was replaced by the same chrome armor, complete with a glowing red eye.

"It should be clear on your left, Cy," Garfield said as he scanned the ground next to his friend.

"Okay. I'm not reading anyone on the bus." Victor grunted out as he rolled the giant vehicle off his shoulders. It slammed down on the concrete floor next to them with a loud crash.

Garfield hopped up to his feet as he reached down to give her a hand up.

Rachel, eyes wide with disbelief, took a moment to look over at the crumpled heap of a bus next to her. When she finally took his hand and got to her feet she opened her mouth to say something, but was at a loss for what to say. What had she just seen?

"Amazing as ever, Cy," Garfield said with a smirk.

Victor turned to his friend and uttered a simple "Booyah."

"Wh—wh—what?" Rachel breathed out.

"Well cat's out of the bag now." Garfield chuckled slightly. "Rachel, it is my distinct honor to reintroduce you to my very best friend, Cyborg."

She couldn't believe it. Everyone who lived in Jump City knew that name. Cyborg, one of the five guardians that protected the city for years. A real life Teen Titan was now standing in front of her.

"Cyborg?" she spoke in almost a whisper. "You're friends with a Teen Titan?"

"Nope, I'm _best_ friends with a Teen Titan," Garfield corrected.

"How?"

"Well-" Garfield started, but was cut off.

"We can all talk about this later. Right now, me and BB need to make sure no one is hurt." Cyborg said as he nodded at his friend to start looking.

"Sorry, duty calls. Stay here, and don't worry. Everything is okay now." Garfield walked over to join his friend.

'My boyfriend is friends with a real life superhero.' She still couldn't believe it. This whole time he never told her about this. 'Why would he hide this from me?' What else did she not know about him?

The food court was almost unrecognizable. There was every manner of debris scattered everywhere. Broken glass littered the ground and crunched under her feet as she walked. Smoke still hung in the air but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She didn't notice any fires anywhere and the sprinkler system wasn't working and the smoke alarms weren't going off. It was odd, something like this should have tripped them, right?

Another thing she found odd was the fact that just a few minutes before the accident, the food court was packed with people. But now, it seemed completely deserted. No one injured, no dead bodies, nothing. That was a good thing, she guessed, lucky that no one was hurt.

It was eerily quiet. After an event like what just happened, and the fact that the mall was so crowded that day, there should have been some kind of commotion. Screaming and yelling, the sounds of people panicking and scattering for the exits. But there was nothing. The only sound to be heard was the sound of the broken shards of glass being crunched as she walked.

She pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket. As she swiped it several times, she was met with a blank screen. Inspecting it quickly, it didn't appear to be broken or damaged in any way. She pressed the power button on the side, hoping that simply was turned off. Again, she was met with nothing.

Garfield had told her to stay put, but she could see no way that would be a good idea. If she couldn't use her phone to call anyone for help, she could at least go find someone to get help.

Rachel looked over to the gigantic, freshly made hole in the side of the building. The light coming in from outside was almost blinding compared to darkness of the mall. She was a few feet away from stepping outside when she heard a familiar voice.

"Rachel," she heard someone called out.

"Sarah!"

"What happened here?" Sarah walked up to Rachel. She didn't appear to be hurt or injured in any way. That made Rachel feel a little more relieved.

"I don't know. I was sitting over there talking with Garfield and Victor. And that thing," Rachel pointed at the overturned bus, "came crashing through the wall."

"Are you okay?!" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Rachel said as the corner of her mouth curled up into a slight grin. "You won't believe what happened."

"Try me," Sarah said sharply. "Something really weird just happened to me earlier."

"Lot of that going around today. What happened?"

"Well I was sitting there at the front desk, we were kinda slow, so I was thinking about closing up a little early. Maybe come down and see you and Gar. Then, just all of a sudden, I got this really odd feeling. Like I needed to be—away."

"Away?" Rachel asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"That's the only way I can describe it." Her friend was looking through her. Clearly trying to find the right words. "It was like I had this desire to get the hell out of the mall. I did my best to ignore it but the longer I tried the more uneasy I felt."

"Uneasy?"

"Yeah, like a nauseous feeling. The longer I tried to stay there the worse it got. Finally, after I got up and walked out of the store, it started going away."

"Umm. Okay?"

"But that's not the really weird part. When I left and started to head to one of the exits-" Sarah looked around the food court as she spoke. "Everyone in the mall was headed the exact same way. And no one was saying anything. There were a few mumbles here and there, but most people were quiet. It was eerie."

"So you were on your way out? How did you end up here?"

"Well, as I was leaving, I got to thinking about you again. I was worried, so I was going to head to the food court and bring you with me. But half way here I heard a loud crash, and the power went out. I'm assuming it was from that." Sarah nodded her head towards the overturned bus.

"I didn't feel anything. And I didn't really notice anyone leaving. But I don't remember much before the crash. Just seeing the bus headed at us."

"How did you get out of the way?"

"I didn't, that's the crazy part."

Sarah now wore her own confused look.

Rachel thought about how she should explain what had happened to her. About how she was saved by an actual superhero. By a Teen Titan. And, most importantly, not only was her boyfriend best friends with him, but he had also managed to keep it a secret from her for three years.

"Umm-" Rachel paused for a moment, trying to word it just right. "Me and Gar were saved by a Teen Titan." It sounded wrong and almost comical just saying it.

"Come again?" Sarah said in disbelief.

"Cyborg, from the Teen Titans?"

"Yeah I remember. I was kind of a fan-girl of theirs back in the day. You know this."

"Apparently that Victor guy that Gar wanted me to meet-was Cyborg?"

"What?!"

"Yeah, apparently the two of them have been friends since high school." She was half saying it to Sarah, half saying it to herself. She still hadn't let it set in. She was still trying to convince herself of what she saw.

"This Victor guy is Cyborg?" Sarah asked, still not believing what she was telling her.

"Yeah. We were sitting there talking that whole time and they never said a thing about it."

"Wait a minute. Did you just reveal Cyborg's secret identity?"

Her heart sank a little at hearing her friend ask this. That thought never occurred to her. She was too excited to tell her friend about what had happened to her that she didn't even think about the fact that Victor probably didn't want anyone knowing that."Umm—Oops."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise. But I wouldn't recommend letting them know that you told me."

"Thanks," Rachel said as a sheepish smile spread across her face. "I kinda screwed up there. I'm glad you were the only one I opened my mouth to."

"Where are the boys at anyway?" Sarah asked finally.

"They were going to go look for survivors. Make sure everyone was okay." Rachel looked around the destroyed building trying to see where they went. "They actually have been gone for a while."

"But there was no one in the mall that I saw. At least not after the crash," Sarah explained. "I didn't see anyone on my way over here. Just you. Should we go look for them?"

"No. Garfield said to stay put here."

"I don't see how that's a good idea. I don't think there is anyone to find here. They would have been back by now."

"Maybe you're right." Rachel looked over to the hole where the bus crashed through. "Maybe we should leave. Go get help. The cops should be here by now."

"Or we could go look for the boys," Sarah said, almost giddy at the idea of meeting Cyborg.

"I don't think that's a good idea either. We might get in their way or something."

"Aww, c'mon, it'll be fine. Let's go find them. We might get to see Cyborg in action."Sarah grabbed hold of her hand and began leading her off into the mall.

"Fine. But if we get in trouble, I'll blame you."

"The two of you should leave." The voice was sudden and startled the two girls.

They turned to see a lone girl standing behind them. She was of average height and build. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a plain black long-sleeved t-shirt. Her hair was a violet color. It was cut short, just past her ears. "The two of you don't need to be here. You both should leave before you get hurt," the girl spoke again.

"I'm sorry." Rachel turned to address the young woman. "I told you we would get in trouble," she whispered back at her friend. "We were just looking for my boyfriend and his friend. Once we found them we were going to leave."

"Leave now," she spoke sternly. "I will go find your—boyfriend,"

"Well we could help you look," Rachel stopped when Sarah grabbed her arm. She turned to look at her friend to see her eyes were wide with shock. "What's wrong?" She asked Sarah.

"We're sorry. We will be going. Tell them that we will be outside." She smiled as she quickly jerked her arm and led her to the exit. "Let's go, right now."

Once they were outside, Rachel snatched her arm from Sarah's grasp. "What the hell? What's wrong with you?"

"Do you have any idea who that was?" She asked, nodding to the mall.

Rachel glanced back at the mall before turning to her friend and shaking her head. "No."

"A bus destroys the mall? Cyborg comes to the rescue? A Teen Titan?"

Rachel simply supplied a blank expression.

"Girl, I'm pretty sure that was Raven."

* * *

AN: Thank you to my betas RavenBloom and of course Gweneveire. Huge help to me. Sorry for the long time between updates. It will get done though.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Do you think it will be a problem?" Garfield asked as they walked through the mall food court.

"I don't think so. I mean, you trust her right? So she can't be too bad," Cyborg answered him as they began their search.

"Well yeah, but I've also never told her, in the three years I've known her, that I'm Beast Boy."

They started making their way through the wreckage of the food court. The place was large, with many restaurants lining the edge of the massive room. The wreckage of the overturned city bus dominated the environment. Debris covered the floor wherever they walked. Something in the crash had caused a fire somewhere. It wasn't the bus, as far as Garfield could tell, but he wasn't sure what. It was enough to fill the room with the scent of melting plastic and gasoline.

Dust and smoke hung in the air as they lifted smashed bricks and other crumpled debris. Cyborg was easily able to lift the larger objects that littered the room. He had found a balance between doing it as quickly as he could while still being careful not to hurt anyone who might be trapped under them.

Garfield was less efficient. He didn't want to remove his holo-ring to morph while he searched. He wanted to at least try to keep up the whole superhero secret identity thing as long as he could. The cat was out of the bag with Cyborg, but he was hoping against hope that Rachel didn't manage to put two and two together.

After a few minutes, they had covered most of the food court. It was odd that they had not found a single person. No bodies, no blood, no signs that anyone was hurt. No signs that anyone was ever there. They started to make their way further into the mall.

"Hey BB, you noticing anything off here?"

"Yeah," he answered as he walked into one of the many stores. "Where are all the people? This place was packed a half-hour ago."

"I've been trying to scan for anyone, but I can't get a good reading with my sensors. It's like something is interfering with them."

The rest of the mall seemed untouched by the crash. It was good that no one seemed to be injured but it kept nagging at Beast Boy. Even if all the people fled when the bus came crashing through the building, there still should have been something to find. If not in the mall itself, then surely in the food court.

"I don't really like saying this, but we should have seen at least some injuries by now. I mean, sure, maybe not in the rest of the mall, but certainly in the food court. A damn bus crashed into the side of the building. As packed as that place was-"

The changeling was cut off mid-sentence by a loud, sharp noise. From the loud bang and the resulting 'clang' coming from his large metallic friend, Beast Boy inferred it was probably a gunshot. The two of them noticed the lone person standing at the other end of the hall. The mall was still darken due to the lack of power. He was standing far enough back in the shadows that neither one of them could make out his face. They weren't even sure that it was in fact a 'he'. But the person was clearly holding up some form of handgun in one of his hands.

"Hey, take it easy. We are here to help we are the good guys," Cyborg said, raising his hands up in front of him, trying to look nonthreatening. "Put down the gun."

"Yeah, those things are dangerous ya know," Beast Boy added.

The figure lowered his gun slightly and glared at them for a moment. It looked as if for a moment that he was going to listen to them. After a moment, he raised his gun again.

Beast Boy yelped as he quickly hid behind his large friend for cover. After a few seconds and, as best as he could count, fourteen or fifteen more shots in rapid succession the gunfire stopped. It was followed by several clicking sounds. He was out of ammo.

"Well that was rude," Cyborg said, unfazed by the volley. "Did you just use me as a human shield?"

"Umm," he said with a nervous chuckle. "No. A meta-human shield."

Cyborg rolled his eyes as he watched the gunman load a fresh clip. "Okay, well this has gone on long enough." His right arm shifted its form with a familiar mechanical hum. He released a quick blast of bright blue energy from his sonic cannon. In another second, the man was knocked to the ground with a thud.

When they walked up, they noticed he was dressed somewhat oddly. He was wearing some sort of tactical vest, complete with a radio and extra ammunition. He was also wearing an unusual set of goggles. Unlike the rest of his outfit, which seemed very militaristic, his eye wear seemed oversized and almost comical.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Beast Boy asked, not expecting an answer. The man was clearly unconscious. "Why would you try and kill us?"

"I don't think he is going to answer you," Cyborg said as he lifted the man up and threw him over his shoulder. "We should go get the cops, I'm sure they are here already."

"Yeah, we need to head back through the food court, get Rachel," Beast Boy said. "I hope she is alright. We just sorta left her there."

"I'm sure she is outside waiting for us," Cyborg reasoned.

"I told her to stay put."

"Why would you do that?" Cyborg asked. "We have no way of knowing it the mall is secure."

"I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time," Beast Boy shrugged. "At the time we thought it was just a freak accident. I didn't know there would be a maniac opening fire on people." Beast Boy eyed the still unconscious man.

Cyborg stopped and quickly looked behind them. "Did you hear that?"

"No. what was it?" Beast Boy asked as he started to fumble with his holo-ring.

"Could have sworn I heard something behind us just now."

"Your sensors picking up anything?"

"No. There is still a lot of interference."

"I'll check it out." Beast Boy turned one of the stones on his holo-ring. His appearance changed in an instant. His normal clothes faded away in a flash, replaced by a very familiar black and purple outfit. His bronze colored skin morphed into a bright green, and his shaggy blond hair darkened into a deep jade.

"There's the Gar I know," Cyborg said with a smile.

He quickly shape shifted into a small bird. He quickly darted down the halls and into the stores. After a few moments he returned to the center of the hall and morphed into a bloodhound. After sniffing around for another few seconds, he returned to his friend.

"I got nothing," Beast Boy reported.

Cyborg looked over their surroundings once more. "I don't like this. We need to hurry and get your girl and get out of here."

"Agreed," Beast Boy said as he led the way back to the food court.

"So should I tell Rachel that you screamed like a little girl and cowered behind me earlier?" Cyborg asked teasingly.

"I didn't scream like a girl!" Beast Boy protested.

"I didn't say you did. I said I was going to tell Rachel that you did," Cyborg corrected.

"Rachel," Beast Boy called as they returned to the overturned bus. "Rachel?" he asked again, not finding her. "Where did you run off too?"

"Told you she's probably outside. Let's go see if we can find her. Drop this dude off." Cyborg started making his way outside when he was struck with yet another round. This time the bullet ricocheted off the left side of his head with a loud crack.

Another girlish yelp was heard. This time from Victor himself.

"What the hell?!" Cyborg said as he shrugged off the unconscious man onto the floor. "Who are they?" he said, nodding to the group of men that had gathered not far from them. They all were armed with the same handgun as the first assailant.

"He has friends apparently," Beast Boy said, walking up next to his friend, readying himself for a fight.

"You know what I don't get?" Cyborg spoke loudly enough for the group to hear him. It was a rhetorical question. "First, they use their guns on us. And when that doesn't work, a head shot no less, they continue to use their guns, like maybe one of the other bullets will work."

One of the group looked down at his firearm for a moment before tossing it aside. The other three men quickly did the same. They exchanged looks before looking over at the two Titans. They spread out and started moving towards them.

"They're not trying what I think they are, are they?" Beast Boy asked.

"I believe they are."

"And when the guns fail," Beast Boy raised his voice as Cyborg had, "they try their fists. As if that will do the trick." "

"Yeah, I never understood that either," Cyborg agreed.

"Any requests for the next dance?" Beast Boy asked with a smirk.

Cyborg seemed to think for a moment. "Nah. D.J.'s choice," he answered.

He waited for them to come a little closer. When they were a few feet away he morphed into dire wolf and slowly started circling them.

The men stopped, watching the prehistoric carnivore with their mouths slightly agape.

"What's the matter? Didn't you want to pick a fight with the entire animal kingdom?" Cyborg said tauntingly. "Even the extinct ones," he added.

After a moment, one of them finally lunged at the K9.

Beast Boy pounced on him, knocking him to the ground as he dug his fangs into the man's forearm.

Cyborg grabbed one of the men, raising him above his head and, slammed him down into the ground. Next, he felt someone leaping onto his back, attempting to get their arms around his neck. He quickly subdued that attacker as well.

Seeing the two men were incapacitated, he turned his attention to his friend. One man lay curled in a ball, grasping his arm as he whimpered in pain. The final man, was slowly backing away as the large wolf closed in on him.

After a few seconds of weighing his options, he turned to run. Beast Boy was about to give chase when a bolt of brilliant blue light shot forward and struck the man. He screamed out in pain for a brief moment before his body collapsed to the floor, limp and lifeless. His skin was blackened and chard and his clothes appeared to be burned off.

Beast Boy morphed back into his human form, looking back at his friend, horrified. "Why did you do that?!"

"It wasn't me," Cyborg responded, just as shocked as Beast Boy was.

"I have no use for cowards." A woman's voice came from behind them. "Especially ones as inept as him."

A woman came forward to meet them. She was humanoid in shape but clearly not a human. Her arms were long and metallic, her digits on her hand were long and sharpened to a point. They resembled talons more than they did fingers. Her torso was slender and made up of some type of alloy. Her head looked human, with human eyes and nose. She even sported a blond mohawk. Her lower jaw was shiny and gray, and appeared to be made of the same material as her torso. She wore a pair of long black pants and combat boots on her feet. She wore a set of military grade body armor over her upper-body.

"It's good to finally meet you Beast Boy, and Cyborg." Her voice sounded digital and distorted. "Or do you prefer Garfield and Victor?"

"Who are you? What do you want?" Beast Boy growled. "Answer me now!"

"I am Algorithm. And I am the solution to the Teen Titan problem."


End file.
